Apart from Fran O'Brians which I tried last year, I've yet to find the real deal fried clam here in the Metro area. It's only a 12 hour drive to the east coast though, which has crossed my mind more than once.

I miss the same thing myself - and have not found anything since I left New England. I took my mother back to Revere Beach once and as a beach front place shack opened up and saw us eyeing his clam buckets, and as a joke grabbed his knife and went "Back! Back!". However, the closest in Milwaukee (sorry, not detroit) is a sushi place that does fried oysters, Try that as a reasonable substitute. Locally $8 a decent sized plate.